Light rail comes to Addis Ababa

The 32km light-rail project that had been under construction in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, finally opened earlier last month. The first light-rail system in Sub - Saharan Africa.

The system, which will expand to total 39 stations across the city, is expected to carry 15,000 people per hour in one direction. The infrastructure project was built over three years by a Chinese company after the Ethiopian government secured 85% of funding from the Export-Import Bank of China.

Cars are air-conditioned. For ticket from the Stadium to Megenagna I paid 2 birr.

Addis- Djibouti Railway On Track

The Addis Ababa-Djibouti line opened ahead of schedule on 20 November .

The US$ 4 billion 756 – kilometer project linking the countries capitals’ is part of Ethiopia’s plan to construct roughly 5,000 km of new lines by 2020, with the aim of boosting manufacturing and trade. Currently, almost 90 percent of Ethiopia’s imports go through Djibouti, and both countries benefit from the economic integration: Ethiopia gains access to the sea the port city of Djibouti gains access to Ethiopia’s fast – growing markets. The line – funded and built by China – will reduce transport time between the capitals from two days to less than 10 hours. (Selamta - The Magazine of Ethiopian Airlines)

The track runs parallel to the abandoned Addis Ababa- Djibouti railway, built more than 100 years ago by France for Emperor Menelik II. The first train to travel along the nearly 800 km track delivered more than 3,000 tons of grain from Djibouti port to drought-affected areas.